CDT Europe Response to the Consultation on Data Access in the DSA

CDT Europe welcomes the European Commission’s initiative to provide independent researchers with access to platforms’ data, initially through Article 40 of the Digital Services Act and now with further specifications outlined in the Draft Delegated Act. Several VLOPs have made access to their data more difficult in the last year, but transparency that allows for research remains the primary tool for understanding how online services contribute to systemic risks to society and the best avenues to mitigate them.

The draft delegated act clarifies many important details, and much of the feedback that was provided from stakeholders during the call-for-evidence (including CDT Europe’s feedback) has been incorporated into the text. In what follows, we aim to build on this great effort by providing suggestions on what should be further detailed.

Overview of key recommendations:

– Expand the independence requirements for applicant researchers to prevent government overreach;
– Explicitly mention the role of CSOs, including CSOs outside the EU, as potential applicant researchers;
– Further detail the requirements for the data inventory to ensure completeness;
– Empower researchers to initiate the mediation process;
– Empower independent experts to assess the quality of data inventories and be part of the mediation process;
– Extend the timeline for DSCs responding to data access applications.

Find our full consultation online and in pdf.